Slowing Down, Being Present, Reflecting
Now that we have the busyness of the holiday season behind us but still plenty of Winter ahead of us, perhaps it is finally a good time to lean into the gift that these months can offer us: chances to slow down, to get cozy, and to reflect on where…
For Good
On Sunday I made an off-the-cuff joke about how I was sorry I had written my sermon before seeing the new Wicked movie because it meant I didn’t have time to make the movie the entire focus of the sermon as I leaned into my latest obsession. But I suppose…
Grief, Connection and a Tree’s Funeral
by Bethany Davey I’m mourning the death of a tree. Two weeks ago, one of our neighborhood trees unexpectedly fell victim to an impending gas line project. Though we had received numerous notices about the project—always slated for the ambiguous future—we had not been informed that trees would be removed….
Voting, Power, and Being the Church
The High School Sunday School class that I lead has been working through a series on Faith and Politics in the lead-up to and, now, fallout from the recent election. A few weeks ago, the class session was focused on exploring the differences and tensions between the “Kin(g)dom of God”…
A Mentor Mindset
I recently picked up a copy of David Yeager’s book, 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People after reading a review that piqued my interest. The sub-sub-title of the book is “A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation–And Making Your Own Life Easier.” I’m fairly skeptical of…
Ten Highlights
Ten Highlights I’m still glowing a bit from the very generous, meaningful, and tasty celebration you all threw for me a few weeks ago to mark my tenth year anniversary with CMC. Every job will have its ups and downs, but it truly has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for…
All the Feels (Part 2)
Last Sunday Joel made a very brief reference in his sermon to the recently released movie, Inside Out 2 as a way to illustrate that you could take in the second part of something (his two-part sermon) without the first, but you’d probably be missing out on some things. When…
Building the Kin-Dom
Last week, I had the opportunity to help chaperone a group of four of CMC’s high school boys on a service-learning trip through Appalachia Build (formerly known as SWAP). We spent the week in Kimball, West Virginia building a deck with a ramp for a household that included a young…
Listening for Wisdom
Last Saturday I gathered on Zoom with Mennonites from across our conference for our annual mid-year gathering. These gatherings used to happen in person across a few different weekends to accommodate the wide geography of the Central District Conference, but have moved solely online the last few years. This means…
Midweek Blog: Out of Nowhere?
If you were in worship last Sunday, you heard me share that we will have a record number of young people attending the Winter Camps at Camp Friedenswald the next two weekends. At last count, we will have 10 High Schoolers and 12 Middle Schoolers attending their respective weekends. That’s…
